Which language to speak with the kid?

Hi

My daughter is 16months old. My husband and myself talk to her in tamil which is our mother tongue. We are thinking of continue talking to her in tamil itself so that she will learn to converse in it. But some of our friends suggest us to talk to her in english since she might feel inferior when she goes to school. We are confused now. Throw me some ideas and waiting to hear your experience.

Thanks
nalini

Hi nalini
Hi we spoke to both our kids now 8yrs and 4 yrs in our mother tongue.
They never ever had a problem in school.

So it is best to teach your kid your mother tongue which he will not learn in school.
Kids can pick up all the languages with ease and asper circumstances so dont be paranoid.

take care
meera

Hello Nalini

my daughter she is 4 years old and we speak our languge Hindi. last year she started going to school and we didnt see any problem with her.

my advice is mothe tongue is best.eventually they will learn eglish by seeing cartoons and in school.

i hope this will help you.

thanks.

Hi Nalini,

Meera and Honey are correct. My daughter is 3.5yrs old and she was at home until I started working. My husband kept telling me to talk in English so that she won't left out in school or outside when she meets someone. But I refused and talked to her in Tamil(mother toungue) only. When she started school, she struggled a little, but then she picked up in just few weeks. So it's not must to teach them english at home. Also when kids start their public school they start answering in english even if we talk in mother toungue. So teach your kid your mother toungue.

Cheers,
Malar

Hi Nalini:


Like everyone else has suggested - always good to talk to your child in your mother tongue. Children are quick learners, so once they go to school they will learn English. Infact, as they learn English their mother tongue usage reduces especially if you live outside India (there are always exceptions,ofcourse).

We talk Kannada at home and my children talked lovely Kannada until we came to the UK. Now it feels bad to see them struggle to converse in Kannada but I'm glad they can understand the language atleast. Sorry to stray from the topic.

Sindhu

HI nalini, even my son also 5 years old and he is talking english and
our native language telugu without any problem. Keep talking in ur language they will learn easily........

Thanks Meera, Honeyj, Malar, Sindhu, Nyeturi for your suggestions. Your words has given me confidence to continue talking to my daughter in our mother tongue. So no more confusion for me.

Thanks a lot.
nalini

what you are doing is right. we live in germany and speak both tamil and english with our 3 yr old (because of the fear that he doesn't have a chance to learn english outside). but no german at home. now he goes to a german nursery and has learnt the language... don't worry at all. i don't remember my parents speaking in english with us but we learnt in english medium at school... didn't most of us? the foundation MUST BE in mother tongue... that's what gives the child an identity and emotional stability. Latha

i have a 2 yrs old son and we speak with him in our mother tongue and also bit of eng words here n tehre ..Now he understands almost everything in my mother tongue and even to a certain extent in eng..I must say that kids are very fast learners and they will pick up new language without much probs..I jsut feel that one base language should be strong ..so that they will be able to at least express themselves clearly in one lang . This is a common prob for indians staying in non eng speaking countries ...I am planning to send my son to a nursery where the only lang spoken is italian .. :) I feel after initial struggle he might be able to cope up..

Hi,

I speak to my child in both english and in my mother tongue. From personal experience I can tell you that it is not very hard for a children to pick up different languages. I spent my childhood in Kenya. When I was 7 we returned back to India. When we were in Kenya I picked up both English and my mother tongue. Right from our childhood we were exposed to English and my mother tongue. At home we converse with my mom in my mother tongue and with my dad in english. And when we moved back to India we had no trouble picking up the local language which was Tamil. So its not a big deal. I would encourage you to talk in your mother tongue and in English.

Thanks,
Kavya.